AFC Bournemouth
Dinesh Gillela captained the side in their friendly match at Southampton on Tuesday, saying that he enjoys the responsibility the armband gives him.
Amidst torrential rain, the under-21s were unfortunate to lose a friendly match they largely dominated 2-0 at Staplewood, the Cherries unable to take the chances that came their way.
After the game, defender Gillela spoke to afcb.co.uk about taking on the captain's role and looking to lead those around him.
"I love it, and I'm thankful to the manager to give it to me, it shows a lot and it means a lot," he said.
"Whether I have the armband or not I don't think it changes any part of my game. Whenever I play on the pitch with my actions and the way I communicate I try to lead the team.
"It helps in that it gives me a bit of confidence and it's good to show that the manager has that trust in me."
Shaun Cooper's side played with the same back three as Jason Tindall's first team, Gillela in the middle of the defence, though he also went closer than anyone as one of two Cherries to strike the woodwork in the second half.
He talked through his opportunity: "At set pieces I'm always trying to be a threat, I managed to get a head on a beautiful cross from Gav (Kilkenny), I thought it would be nestling in the top corner but it bounced off the bar, off the line, off the post and the 'keeper's then come to collect it.
"Near the end Jaidon (Anthony) got a really good chance, he managed to work space for himself and get a shot in, it hit the inside of the post, it rolled across the line and the 'keeper's managed then to hold on to it, then we realised that it wasn't our day."
Gillela echoed his manager in his reading of the performance, knowing his side need to show a finer cutting edge to get the better of high-quality opposition.
"That's what happens when you don't take your chances," he said. "It was a game that was there for the taking, we started off really well playing with a three at the back system and our press was really good.
"Against the top teams if you don't punish them you get punished yourself.
"We went in 0-0 at half time and a bit disappointed because we didn't take our chances but the game was still there to be won. We had a good team talk and started well but playing out from the back on a wet and slippery surface can sometimes cause mistakes.
"We dealt with it all through the first half but the moments and instances where we weren't up to scratch they punished us. Two sucker-punch goals really because I felt we were dominant.
"We just have to brush it off and learn from it - take it into our next game."
